improve ignition power

[normality78]

guy's,
what can i do to improve my 7A ignition power? Other thn using MSD? Is there any tip tricks i can do so?

[barryogen]

get a better battery?

Once I changed batteries to a bigger one with a larger crank power(just compared the labels, and then asked the guy behind the counter), my last car started heaps better. anecdotal, but still. cost me ~110 instead of $80.

My bro in law did the same but went overkill and spent ~$500 on a battery... although it is also a heap lighter than a normal battery, havent looked at the specs of it, not keen on spending that sort of cash on a battery either.

[sergei]

What is wrong with factory ignition?
Best way to improve "ignition power" (especially on 7A) is to replace old leads and sparkplugs with genuine Toyota items and recommended spark plugs. Maybe have a look at replacing rotor/rotor cap with new genuine item as well.
If ignition works, it works, you cannot have any gains from "stronger" spark, if the original is doing it is job (as in not missfiring).
The rest is snake oil like:
motor up and likes
fuel magnets
fuel star
power tornado
exhaust power tornado variation
12v computer fan in intake (another power tornado variation)
grounding kits
spark plug leads grounding kits
vacuum compressor (1 input bottle that hooks to intake with nifty vacuum guage)
etc.

[sergei]

Oh and interms of battery, highly recommend gel spiral (orbital) cell type of battery, like Exide Orbital or Optima batteries. One drawback - very expensive.

[normality78]

there is nothing wrong on it just that i wanted to have a bigger spark so to say better combustion

[sergei]

there is nothing wrong on it just that i wanted to have a bigger spark so to say better combustion

Bigger spark != better combustion.
Spark starts combustion, it has to have sufficient power to initiate it, rest is self sustained. Spark only last a few miliseconds. Factory system provides more than sufficient spark energy. If you run too much power through you will end up with following side effects: 1) shorten life of the spark plug 2) shorten life of the distributor cap/rotor 3)Increased interference 4)higher chance of insulation failure.
MSD ignition on 7A (FE I presume) will not lead to any gains (will be a hassle to install, as the ECU relies on IGF signal, which is provided by factory ignitor). Basically you will endup spending money on something that will not lead to any gains what so ever.

[sergei]

"!=" is "not equal"

[strx7]

get a better battery?

.

consider a battery has say 12.8 volts, and when a car is running the alternaor puts out somewhere between 13.8 and 14.9 volts, putting a larger battery in a car, doesn't achieve jack in regards to actually engine running voltage.

[matt dunn]

get a better battery?

.

consider a battery has say 12.8 volts, and when a car is running the alternaor puts out somewhere between 13.8 and 14.9 volts, putting a larger battery in a car, doesn't achieve jack in regards to actually engine running voltage.

In fact having a larger battery will make you loose performance.

not only do you have to drag more weight around in the car,

but it will require more current into it to keep it charged and so the alternator will drag more HP.

Most moden cars can ( but not recommended) run with no battery.
The reason quite a few serious race cars need to have a jump start to start initally is that they run a battery like the one you would find in a torch.

For more spark you need to change the coil type and trigger setup,
and with a standard ECU you might as well not even try as you will not be able to change the factory dwell settings,
and dwell is one of the biggest things that effects coil output.

[Stealer Of Souls]

but it will require more current into it to keep it charged and so the alternator will drag more HP.

I'll admit firstly, that I'm no battery/alternator guru specialist. But how does this make sense? Once a battery is up to "full charge", it is just requiring a float amount of current to maintain it. Unless the battery has a very high internal resistance, I don't see how it will require more current.
I liken it to a barrel of water with a hole in the bottom of it. A bigger barrel (with the same sized hole) will require more water initially to fill it, but once it's full it will require the same in flow of water to keep it full. So unless the hole is a different size, or there is a funnel being used to fill the barrel, how can it change?
Also, the increase in alternator drag would be pretty minimal wouldn't it? Even with the inefficiencies of all the energy conversion, I was under the impression that the alternator is a pretty efficient bit of equipment and it would require a large change in load to significantly change the mechanic energy required to generate the power.

[strx7]

I recall reading somewhere that a legacy alternator draws close to 20 HP at full load....

[sergei]

20HP!!!!
it cannot be, 1kW alternator drawing 15kW (~20Hp), means that i has only 7% efficency. Simply BS.

[barryogen]

notice that I said "better battery", not bigger.
Bigger doesn't always mean heavier either.